Buddism on the Caste System in India

Buddhism started nearly 2500 years ago in by the son of a wealthy and powerful man named Siddhartha Gautama. He saw the suffering and despair of others one day and taught that they should be equal and live in harmony. As stated in The Buddha Dharma Education Association, Siddhartha sacrificed all his good fortune he had possessed and tried to feel what his other Indians felt and tried to comfort them with a new teaching and faith (Pilgrimage, 1). Furthermore, he did this for his own understanding and for all people. According to the chapter from, the Life of Buddha by G.P. Malalasekera, the Buddha once said, “By birth one is not an outcaste, by deeds alone one is an outcaste.”If you were living an uncomfortable life, in disenchanted poverty and could not survive independently, would you seek a new religion to find peace and equality? Buddhism was a major advantage for India because it made people equal in the caste system compared to Hinduism and Jainism.

Within the caste system In India, there are five levels of diversity in Hinduism. “The Brahmins were the upper class men who in India refer to the class of educators, law makers, scholars, priests and preachers of Dharma in Hinduism (I.N.Z.com).”The Kshatriyas were warriors and rulers. The comprising farmers, herders, merchants, and businessmen were known as Vaisyas. The unskilled workers were known as Sudras. The Pariah was the Indians who were known as untouchables and outcastes to the community. The Pariah was the lowest caste and people despised and hated them. According to Dana Hinders, “The Pariah was treated unfairly if an individual from one of the three upper classes got married to a Shudra or a non-Hindu.”These castes separated people from one another and divided them into groups; unfair statuses as stated from Vlatko who created the site topdoumentaryfilms.com.